Global Encounters Visits the Academy!

This summer, 44 students between the ages of 15-17 from 13 countries attended a 25-day Global Encounters camp at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad.

As an organisation, our commitment to service through the lens of pluralism is evidenced by our collaboration with not-for-profit organisations such as Global Encounters (GE). GE is an intensive international summer programme for adolescent youths that is held in both the Mombasa and Hyderabad Academies, focusing on three core elements: community service learning, leadership development and exposure to an array of diverse cultures.

Through regular, structured interactions with local government schools that are part of the Academy’s outreach and CAS network, students built their understanding of educational development and the complexities involved in navigating through different cultural contexts. Collaborative projects between GE participants and the school’s staff and students involved initial steps to build a relationship of trust and collaboration.

One project for instance, involved designing an awareness programme about cleanliness and the environment, resulting in implementing effective solutions to waste management and disposal. With sustainability as a key parameter for successful interventions, participants were invited to explore possibilities for meaningful service to take place during their time at the school, with a view to passing on their learnings to key stakeholders so that any intervention would be able to continue long after their particular programme had ended.

At the end of the summer programme, there was a ‘service celebration’ to reflect on students’ exchange of learning and aspirations. GE participants left with an idea of what service entails, and the impact of experiential learning as part of the Academies’ 5 strands and IB learning principles.

“From my perspective, one of the most transformative elements of this programme was the ability of the students to find their place in their world, because the Global Encounters offers a snapshot of the world. It’s like a microcosm; it asks you to relate, recognize, embrace and value the other.

Having the opportunity to explore such diversity within such a nurturing environment is a unique model of learning which can build strong notions of empathy and understanding between people from highly variable contexts.”

- Faraan Mithani, International Programmes Manager at the Aga Khan Academies.